Tokyo: Blooming Sakura's - Part 3

Sunday promised to be a wonderful day for me in Japan. Two employees of Panasonic in Yokohama have offered to take us sight-seeing around Tokyo. Nothing better than a tour through Tokyo with trustworthy Tokyo citizens.

Our first stop was Asakusa; famous for its shrines and other cultural offerings. The tarin ride itself took us nearly an hour to get to from Nakahara. We also encountered the astounding convenience of the train system here. From Nakahara, none of the ticket machines provide fares for oru actual destination. So how?
Simple; buy whatever ticket that fits the route. When you reach you actual destination, there are special machines before the exits that will calculate the remainder you owe the system. Also, there are mainly 2 types of train systems in Tokoy; conventional and subways. We managed to purchase a full-day fixed-rate ticket! Truly convenient for tourists or people who commute a lot within central Tokyo itself. Don't bother doing the math; take it from me that it is substantially cheaper to use this ;)



This is seriously the first thing that greeted us as we walked out of the station. Apparently, this is a very traditional Japanese wedding. It's an uncommon sight, so you could say it was a bonus view... what a way to start the day! Hehe.



Asakusa is really a 2-in-1 place. This here is one part of it... the bazaar. It's good spot to shop for souvenirs. Do take note that this is a favorite tourist spot; prices here are definitely higher than average.


Then comes the other part. The true essence of Asakusa is this shrine. Thousands of people flock to this famous spot everyday.


What better things to do in a shrine than to pray. Haha, can you imagine that.. ME, praying? :Þ Ujita-san was kind enough to provide a live demonstration on how the Japanese do it, so that this 'historic' moment for me can be captured on photo. Haha... me... praying. The irony.


Just beside the altar, there's gambling! Ok, not gambling but fortune.. er.. chopsticks?
Step 1: Shake the metal box and extract ONE stick through the hole.

Step 2: Take note of the number on the stick. Find the drawer that matches the number for your fortune reading.

Step 3: If fortune is bad, tie the fortune reading to this. This is intended to 'wipe away' bad luck.

Yes, you guessed it... my fortune reading was bad. In fact, Hamada-san said it was among the worst he's read, hahaha! Apparently this year is not good to change jobs, buy anything substantial, get into a relationship, make babies, buy a house, etc. You get the picture.




As we step out of the main shrine building, you can't help but notice the beautiful view outside. First thing to catch your eyes would definitely be this pagoda-like building. I'm guessing it was a smaller shrine of sorts. Aside from this, there's a smaller bazaar in the compound. Most of these here are snacks for munching on the move.


This particular stall had several curious observers (read: tourists) keenly paying attention to it. I don't blame them... here they sell something made out of banana's coated in a selection of pinkish or chocolate cream. Of course, nobody would have thought it as an innocent snack the first time around...


There was not much to see in Asakusa besides the shrine. So we moved on to Tokyo city. As we came out our station, you can't help but notice this awkward symbol almost jumping out at you. I was told it was the logo of a TV/Radio station.

This was really just on the way to our next activity; Sumida Rover Cruise. A famous attraction in Tokyo, the cruise is really a down-river ride on Sumida river for approximately 30minutes. The unique deal about this boat ride is...

...it passes under 12 suspension bridges of varying designs and constructs. No two are alike. Also, the entire journey, yuo'll notice that the banks are properly constructed to provide not just a scenic, green experience, but also a haven for those who enjoy walking or jogging.


And then, there's always the variety of interesting cruise ships. This is by far the most hi-tech looking vessel I saw. Looks almost like something out of a Hollywood science-fiction movie.




I know photos of bridges may seem boring, but they *are* the highlight of the cruise. So here's one...


This shot is not to show off the bridge. It is to highlight the general view of the cityscape. Although a city far more advanced than any in M'sia, Tokyo is not really brimming with skyscrapers. Notice how un-dense it is. Its a geographical thing; earthquakes make it difficult to construct and maintain tall buildings. Recent technology has allowed engineers and architects to work around this problem, so I wouldn't be surprised that the view could change quite a bit over the next decade.


This is another hard-to-miss building. Apparently its a TV station, but I could be wrong. Weird.. but cool!


And this is the humble vessel that I rode on for the Sumida River Cruise.


Our next destination was Tokyo Tower. We needed to catch a taxi to get there, but it was quite a distance to walk to the nearest stop. I couldn't help notice how clean the streets are. Also, the road beside this is actually a 4-lane, 2-way highway. On a weekend, this part of Tokyo goes rather empty... yet people still adhere to the pedestrian traffic lights. I mean, you could dance the whole macarena in the middle of the road here and still not get hit by anything!





And the walking continues. There's an extensive canal system here and Tokyo plays host to one of the largest ports in Japan. Seeing water gates such as this is common, but this particular gate is anything but. Couldn't resist the temptation to take this shot!


Eventually, we arrived at Tokyo Tower. At the base, we are greeted by this memorial of sorts, attributed to the snow dogs that were in the antartic expedition in the 50's.


The tower itself stands several meters taller than the Eiffel Tower, making this the tallest self-supporting steel tower in the world. Fascinating fact: although taller than the Eiffel, Tokyo Tower weighs slightly more than half the Eiffel. The Eiffel Tower is a behemoth at 7000+ tonnes!


The queue to get in to the tower was awfully long so we decided to skip it and head for a snack. But, while the others were busy deciding on that, I was busy looking around when I spotted this cute taxi... of sorts. Boy, I would love to have one of these.







Anyway, hunger struck. Couldn't find anything interesting on our way, so we stopped at McDonalds! This is their Chocolate Pie!!! I want these in M'sia...
Tea break was quite long at McDs. We stuck around for nearly an hour, chit-chatting with the Japanese and exchanging vocabulary. They seemed really interested to hear us talk. And by the number of giggles and laughs they were having throughout the day, I believe they found us rather playful and easily-excited.


On to the next stop: Ginza Street. This is the world for the truly high-class. This street hosts all the fancy boutique, fashion houses, and jewellery shops that the world has to offer. Definitely not my kind of place, haha.

Ginza is closed off to traffic for weekends. The street itself will then be filled with tables and chairs for people to make use of. Awkward, but I guess its normal for them.


Our real destination was to Shibuya; that's where dinner is! But we were still on Ginza when I spotted this classy looking, multi-floor restaurant. I have no idea what kind of restaurant this is, but it sure looked nice.


Another side-track; Nissan showroom. The latest Nissan Skyline was on display that day. Nice! The worst part about this is that this car only costs RM90k+ if I were to base it on the Japanese pricing. I mean, thats CHEAP for a sports car! Good luck buying anything more than a lower-end Honda Jazz back home. So unfair...



We finally reached Shibuya. I dare say I haven't seen so many people in a city area before in my life. When the lights go green, literally thousands of people march across the streets. Very intimidating, this. And they told me that the Shinjuku stop (about 2-3 stations away) is worse. That, it seems, is the worlds busiest station!






I wish I had Morpheus' ability to evade the crowds with style. Bumping into people seems like a normal thing here in Shibuya. Not to mention the extremely stylish and drop-dead-gorgeous women you see all too often. Lets not talk about those :P

This here is actually a cineplex! Talk about standing out.


And again, right at the base is the bee hive. I have no idea where these people come from, but there's human traffic almost non-stop!
Anyway, we weren't far from our dinner destination. After a short walk, we finally arrived...

... to savour authentic sushi! This is by no means a sushi bar... we hand picked each item from the menu. Which also goes to prove that good sushi is really expensive even by Japanese standards. These 11 items cost 2000yen; approximately RM65. Was well worth every cent of it! I finally discovered anago! The salt-water cousin to the fresh-water unagi! Now I just need to find a place in M'sia that serves good anago!!!



Dinner pretty much concluded our Sunday trip. We were tired from all that walking and commuting. It was also a long ride home. I thought it would be good to share this; a notice that indicates women-only carriages. It only applies to specifics times and days. It is their solution to reduce the seemingly rampant cases of sexual harassments on the trains. Seeing how crowded the trains can get, I can understand how that problem can get out of hand (pun intended).
Can't say how far such a system could be implemented and enforced in our country.

Eventually we reached stations that were common to us by now. We almost always have to pass through Musashi-Kosugi to switch trains. And Musashi-Kosugi is also where I get my (almost) daily dose of... jeng je jeng...

TAKOYAKI!

Hahaha, yay! I love Tokyo.